Improvement in sewing-m ach i n es



' 2 Sheets.Sheet 1. v SAWYER & ALSOP.

Sewing Machine.

Patented Oct. 25; 1859.

- 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. SAWYER & ALSOP.

- Sewing Machine.

Patented Oct. 25, 1859 UNITED STATES PATENT O FICE.

IRVIN B. SAVYER AND T. ALSOP, OF SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS.

IMPROVEMENT IN SEWING-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 25,9I8, dated October25, 1859.

To (all wham it may concern clare that the following is a full and exactdescription thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,and to the letters and numbers of reference marked thereon, in which-Figure 1 is a'perspective view, and Figs. 2, 3, .4, 5, 6, 7, and S aresectional views, of our improved machine.

Aand B, Fig. 1, are two cylinders, of metal or other suitable material,to be usedin the place of the flat surface generally used insewing-machines, upon which the fabric to be sewed -is placed. The twocylinders are separated by the plate D, which forms a bearing for oneend of each cylinder. The surface,of each cylinder, for a short distancefrom the edges which come to the plate D, is made sufficiently rough tohold and carry forward the fabric placed upon them,when held firmly uponthem by the spring pressure-foot O.

F is a wheel placed back of the cylinder A, with itssides parallel toand equidistant from a vertical plane drawn through the axes of thecylinders. The wheel F has cam-grooves upon each side and upon its edge,and is fastened upon a shaft, F, upon which is also fastened thehand-wheel H, by which the machine is moved. Upon the same shaft is acam, g, which in turning raises the lever c and the rod (1, turning theratchet-wheel f by the pawl e, from which the motion is communicated tothe cylinders A and B by means of the cogwheels h e e and K K. The wheelK is not represented in Fig. 1, but is shown in Fig. 3 upon the end ofthe cylinder A, the wheels K K being fast to the ends ,of the cylinders.The position of the cam g upon the shaft is such as to give the feedmotion to the cylinders at the time the needle is out of the fabricbeing sewed, and the amount of the feed mo tion is regulated by thescrew 0, the end of the screw resting upon a standard, 0. The cylinder Brevolves with an axis, x, which is fastened to it, having a bearing, 1,at the outer end, the inner end having a bearing in the plate D. Thecylinder A is supported atone end upon the inside at its edge by thewheels at a a, which'turn upon bearings fastened to the plate D. (Shownin Fig. 4.) The other end has a bearing, 1, (shown in Figs. 2 and 3,)which fits sufficiently loose to the inside edge of the cog wheel orring R to allow it to turn freely, that portion of the head of thecylinder inside of the dotted line in Fig. 3being cut out. "he needle isfastened in the bar E, and is actuated by the rock-shaft G, which has afulcrum, G. The short arm of the rock-shaft is furnished with arollerwhich works in the camgroove N.

The lever A, Figs.- 2 and 8', vibrates upon a fulcrum, \V, which isattached to the arm M, and is actuated by the cam-groove Y, acting uponthe roller Z at the upper end of the le ver. The lever A gives motion tothe shuttle m by means of the pitman S, which is attached to theshuttle-carrier B, the arms 0 O. of which extend into the shuttle-race 1leaving a little more than the length of the shuttle between them.

Fig. 4: represents that side of the plate 1) next to the cylinder A,showing an end view of the shuttle-race y, with the arm of theshuttle-carrier extended into it. The upper portion of that part of theshuttle-race in cylinder A is cut off to allow the shuttle to be taken.

out, and there is a sliding cover, y, to close it sufficiently when theshuttle is in its place.- There is also an opening and slide, B, (shownin Fig. 1,) in cylinder A- for the purpose of getting at theshuttle-race, and the cylinders can be moved forward by the hand of theoperator at any time to bring the opening to any desired place. Theplate I) is cut away from the place where the needle enters to theshuttle-race, as shown in Fig. 4, (the part out out being marked-black,)to allow the thread from the shuttle to the fabric to pass from one sideof the plate to the other as the shuttle is moved.

q, Figs. 4 and 5, is'a hook with a groove.

upon its outer edge, which is attached to one end of a shaft, 1, uponthe other end of which is a crank, 6, upon which is a roller, 1', whichruns in the groove upon the edge of the camwheel F, by which it isactuated, giving to the hook a reciprocating motion. The end of theshaft carrying the crank ehasbearing t in the plate 1, Fig. 3. Thebearing for the other end is fast to the plate Dat a point vertical withthe point of the needle and on a level with the bottom of theshuttle-race, the hook q. lying close to the plate D, so that its point,

when moved forward, shall pass close to the needle.

a and 11, Fig. 3, representthe bearing for the shuttle-bar B and theslot through which the pitman 8 plays, the shuttle-bar lying parallelwith the shuttlerace, and having another bearing where it passes throughthe plate D.

In turning the wheel H in the direction indicated by the arrow thecam-groove N, acting upon the rock-shaft G, causes the needle to descenduntil its eye is a short distance below the point of the hook q, asshown in Fig. 4:, there being a suitable groove cut in the plate Dforthe needle to pass along, so as to be clear of the edges of bothcylinders. The form of the cam-groove N is such that as the wheelcontinues to move forward the needle rises sufficiently to throw out asmall loop. At the same time the groove upon the edge of the wheel F,acting on the crank 0, causes the hook to advance, so as to catch theloop upon its point, so that as it continues to advance the thread willfall into the groove upon its edge and be carried forward, as indicatedby the dotted line m. As soon as the point of the hook has passed theneedle the'needle again descends until its eye is brought as low as thebottom of the shuttle, the point of the hook arriving atthe same time atits lowest point,on a level with the eye of the needle. The threadbetween the point of the hook and the eye of the needle is thus forcedpast and between the end of the shuttle and its bearer, the shuttle-racehere being cut away for the passage of the hook and thread, asrepresented in Fig. 2. An extended loop is thus formed for the shuttleto pass through. As soon as the needle reaches its lowest point theshuttle carrying the lower thread (being until this time in that end ofthe race within cylinder B) is moved through the loop by the action ofthe cam-groove Y, Fig. 8, acting upon the lever A, the needle andhook'remaining stationary while the shuttle is passing through the loop.The shuttle then remains stationary while the needle and heck are movedback to their first position, and the lock-stitch, Fig. 9, is thusformed, which, when properly drawn into the cloth, presents the sameappearance upon each side. The shuttle is then moved back to its firstposition before the hook again carries the needle-thread across theshuttle-race. In order to furnish sufficient slack thread to form theloop described, the needle-thread is passed, as shown in Fig. 7,.through the ring 1, thence over the pin 2, and down to the ring upon theend of the spring a, (which is attached to the arm M,) and thence overthe roller 3 to the eye of the needle. The thread is thus drawn to itsfull tension when the needle reaches its highest point, and the spring ais drawn up to the pin 4, by which it is stopped. As shown by the dottedlines, sufficient thread is thus drawn from the spool to form the loopby the hook q, as described.

Fig. 6 represents the shuttle, one end of which can be taken off toadmit the bobbin.

The end is held to its place by a rod running through it and screwinginto the other end, the bobbin being placed upon this rod. The threadfrom the bobbin is passed over the bar a to the round bar I), where itpasses through a hole in the bar, or adjacent thereto, at equal distancefrom each end of the shuttle, and is wound around the bar b sufficientlyto produce the requisite tension, when it is passed through anotherhole, neartheend of the bar b, to a hole, (Z, in the shuttle.

\Ve do not wish to be understood as limiting ourselves to the preciseform of construe tion of the different parts of the machine asdescribed, as they may be varied wvitliout changing the principle orcharacter of our invention.

WVe do not claim as our invention the use of the rough surface andspring pressure-foot for carrying forward the fabric, as We are awarethat these devices have been before in, use; neither do we claim the useof a shuttle for interlacing the upper and lower threads, except whenmade in the manner described; nor do we claim the use 'of cams or ca1ngrooves for giving the motions to the needle, shuttle, and hook.

WVhat we clai'in as our invention, and desire to secure by LettersPatent, is-

The use of the hook q, formed and moving substantially as described,combined with the shuttle and needle, substantially as described, andfor the purpose specified.

IRVIN B. SA\VYER-. THOMAS ALSOP. XVitnesses:

\VILLIAM D. XVARD, Rorrr. T. LINCOLN.

